


A Good Team

by sophieofwinterfell



Series: A Collection of Firsts [6]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Blackinnon Week 2020, F/M, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Marauders Friendship (Harry Potter), Post-Marauders Era (Harry Potter), blackinnon, well not exactly EVERYONE but kind of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-19
Updated: 2020-07-19
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:48:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25381855
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sophieofwinterfell/pseuds/sophieofwinterfell
Summary: But what broke his heart the most was the fact that he’d never thought a child would look at him like that, as someone worthy of admiration or love, and he hated that it felt so good; especially because Harry should have been staring at James like that, not him.AU in which Sirius doesn't go to Azkaban, Marlene doesn't die, and Harry grows up being spoilt by his godparents.
Relationships: Marlene McKinnon & Harry Potter, Sirius Black & Harry Potter, Sirius Black/Marlene McKinnon
Series: A Collection of Firsts [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1827946
Comments: 5
Kudos: 40





	A Good Team

**Author's Note:**

> END OF BLACKINNON WEEK!!!! Day 7: First anything (AU or canon). 
> 
> And, of course, I chose AU because, honestly? Canon sucks for these two.
> 
> I want to thank everyone who took the time to read, leave a kudos and/or a comment. I was so scared to post anything because it's been a long time since I've actually written anything HP related, but I enjoyed it very much. 
> 
> I absolutely LOVED writing this fanfic, and I hope you like it just as much as I do!

**A Good Team**

“Are you looking for your wife?”

It took him a second to realisethe question had been aimed at him, and Sirius stopped looking around to find an old, chubby woman with a kind, wrinkled face that clearly worked at the shop. She was staring at him with a condescending, knowing smile, as if that kind of situation happened to her every day.

“Excuse me?” Sirius gave her a puzzled look.

“The tall, blonde woman you came with?” she said, slowly, as if he was somewhat dumb. “I figured you were looking for her and your son. They’re over there, in the balls section.”

Understanding dawned on him, and without even bothering to explain that he didn’t have a wife _or_ a son, Sirius thanked her anyways and made his way towards the section she had directed him to, where he effectively found Marlene and Harry. She was crouching on her knees, with Harry sitting on the floor surrounded by every possible Quidditch ball in the shop. Hiding a smile, he went to them.

“So, you see, Harry,” Marlene was explaining to him enthusiastically. “The Quaffle isn’t as dangerous as the bludgers are — it doesn’t move unless we Chasers pass it around ourselves, to score points in the goal with it.”

“The most boring ball in Quidditch, if you ask me,” Sirius chipped in, smirking when Marlene threw him a glare.

“Nobody asked you,” she snapped, although there was no real malice behind her words.

Harry giggled while Sirius crouched next to him as well, and the boy looked at him with a fond smile, not ever losing that sincere and pure look of admiration in his eyes. Even after five years, it still got to him, for many reasons — firstly, it reminded him too much of James, because even though Harry had inherited Lily’s eyes, his expressions were all James, especially when he was happy or excited. Another reason was that James had been the first person to ever give Sirius looks like those whenever he bested him at a Transfiguration spell or thought of an incredibly elaborate prank; his parents had never been much impressed by anything he did as a child. But what broke his heart the most was the fact that he’d never thought _a child_ would look at him like that, as someone worthy of admiration or love, and he hated that it felt so good; especially because Harry should have been staring at _James_ like that, not him.

“Now, Harry,” Sirius said, ignoring Marlene’s comment. “I know your aunt has been brainwashing you and trying to make you a Chaser, but believe me, being a Beater is much more fun.”

Marlene scoffed. “I haven’t been _brainwashing_ him. Being a Chaser is in his blood.”

“Daddy was a Chaser,” Harry explained with a toothy and proud grin. “Auntie Marley too.”

“Yes, I know, but Uncle Padfoot was a Beater,” Sirius said, cocking an eyebrow. “Don’t you wanna be like Uncle Padfoot? Beaters are strong! They take care of their team and kick their enemies’ asses.”

“That sounds fun,” the boy admitted.

“I know,” Sirius said, throwing Marlene a winning smirk. “Now, do you want me to buy you a bat and a bludger? You can practise throwing it at that pig—I mean, that cousin of yours.”

“Sirius, don’t give him ideas,” she said, although there was a smile tugging at her lips.

Harry laughed, a giggle of pure joy at his uncle’s occurrences that made his heart melt and crack at the same time. Sirius hadn’t known James when he’d been this little, but Marlene had told him once that when he had been Harry’s age, he’d had that same giggle.

The idea seemed to tempt the little boy, but while he reminded him of James a lot, he had Lily’s kind spirit — not that James hadn’t been kind, but he would have never put up with that little twat’s bullshit the way sweet Harry did. He couldn’t wait until Dumbledore allowed them to live together.

“I don’t know,” he admitted. “I… I like the Snitch.”

“The Snitch?” Sirius repeated with a frown. “That’s… odd.”

“It’s not,” Marlene rolled her eyes. “He’s five, and the Snitch is a shiny, golden ball that flies around and doesn’t want to beat him the way a bludger does.”

“It’s so pretty!” Harry exclaimed, taking the Snitch between his tiny hands and staring at it with an amazed expression.

“Well, yeah, I guess,” Sirius said, reluctantly. “You know what? Let’s take them all, so you can actually try them and decide which one you like best.”

“Them all?” Harry repeated, his green eyes wide and sparkling.

“Yeah, fuck it.”

“Sirius!”

He winced, but Harry only laughed again and looked at his aunt, who was clearly exasperated by his inability to not swear in front of their godson.

“Are we _rweally_ going to buy all the balls?” he asked her, because she always had the last word.

Marlene always went on and on about how they shouldn’t spoil Harry, arguing Lily wouldn’t like it if her son turned out to be a cocky bastard, but that was easier said than done. Both Marlene and Sirius had inherited their families’ entire fortunes, and Harry even had gold of his own from the Potters’ side — although they both had decided they would take care of everything and that vault wouldn’t be opened until Harry turned eighteen—, he was such a good kid that it was impossible not to want to buy him everything, especially because he _never_ asked for anything.

“Yeah, fuc— I mean, yes, we are,” Marlene answered, barely correcting herself.

Sirius smirked, knowing she had as much of a hard time as him to stop herself from swearing.

They left Quidditch Quality Supplies with the complete Quidditch equipment and other garments. Then, they stopped by Zonko’s to buy a few harmless jokes and tricks Sirius insisted Harry should have under his sleeve in case his cousin decided to mess with him… which, after the _talk_ Sirius and Marlene had had with the kid himself after they’d found out he’d been stealing Harry’s meals, would be highly unlikely. But one could never be too cautious.

After that, they strolled lazily through Diagon Alley, enjoying the warm summer day and eyeing the stalls and peddlers. They spent a lot of time at Broomstix, drooling over the new models but deciding in the end that it would be too irresponsible of them to buy Harry a _proper_ broomstick — a toy one should have to do, for now. Later, Sirius and Harry shared an ice-cream at Fortescue’s while Marlene had one for herself, not without some teasing from them for having such a sweet tooth.

The whole time, Sirius was aware of the staring; it was almost second nature, an instinct, to look over his shoulder now, and he could feel the curious eyes on Harry’s scar. He hated that, and he knew Marlene did too, because whenever someone tried to approach them, the icy glare she threw their way, whoever it was, made people stay away. They didn’t want Harry to grow up being constantly reminded of what he had lost. The kid had too much on his plate already, being an orphan and having to live with those ignorant relatives of his.

“I hate this,” he growled, after they had dropped Harry at Privet Drive. They had _apparated_ in muggle London, where they both lived; different flats but same building because it was easier to raise Harry that way between the two. “When is Dumbledore going to let us take full custody? James and Lily wanted it that way. It’s been five years.”

“You-Know-Who is not dead, Sirius,” Marlene said.

“He’s not _alive_ either.”

“I know, but we must do what is best for Harry.”

“This isn’t the best for Harry, and don’t even try to be rational about this. I know you hate it as much as I do.”

Dumbledore had explained to them why it was necessary he stayed with Lily’s sister and they _somewhat_ understood, but that didn’t mean they had to like it.

Marlene sighed.

“Of course I fucking hate it. Just looking at the way Harry’s face falls whenever he sees that ugly neighbourhood breaks my heart, but what can we do?”

“We could take him,” he suggested, not for the first time. “Even the Dursleys would thank us for it.”

“And do what? Run away with him?”

Sirius shrugged. “The south of France has nicer weather.”

“You don’t even speak French.”

“But you do.”

“And send Harry to Beauxbatons?” Marlene snorted, amused. “James would come back as a ghost to haunt us.”

“Of course not. We hide until he turns eleven, then we send him to Hogwarts. What can Dumbledore do? Reject him?”

For the briefest of moments, Sirius thought she would give in; he knew her too well to know she wanted to. However, she ended up letting out a sigh, defeated.

“We can’t. As perfect as it sounds, you know we can’t. His safety must be our priority.”

“What about his happiness? I don’t want him to have a traumatic, miserable childhood,” he mumbled, stuffing his hands in his pockets angrily. “I know what that’s like and it isn’t pretty.”

Marlene stopped walking suddenly, and Sirius did, too. He turned around to face her, and her pale face showed how much she truly understood him. Besides James, she was the person who knew him the most — not even Remus could read him as well as she did. There was something about growing up in ‘polite society’ and being forced to repress emotions that had made them close. Even if her family hadn’t been cruel as his had, the death of her mother when she’d been just twelve and her father’s neglect had marked her too; she’d had her siblings for a while, but the War had taken them from her as well.

Her father andsiblings, James and Lily, Dorcas and Mary; even Peter, the filthy traitor, and Regulus, that soft, idiot brother of his… they were all gone.

Besides Harry and Remus, they had only each other left, and they were too aware of that. How many more losses were they supposed to bear? They were twenty six years old, for Merlin’s sake. They deserved to be happy. Their best friends’ son deserved to be happy.

“He’s not an unhappy child, Sirius,” she told him, as if reading his thoughts. “And he’s not alone. He has us, he’ll _always_ have us.”

“He deserved better,” he muttered, his throat closing and his eyes burning. “James, Lily… they all deserved better. It should have been me instead of them.”

“Don’t say that,” she snapped, her spine straightening up and her features turning hard. Even in the darkness and with that cold expression, only illuminated by the dim street lights, she was still beautiful, probably the most beautiful girl Sirius had ever seen… and he’d seen quite a lot. “In a perfect world, it shouldn’t have had to be any of us, but the world’s fucked up. We both know it, so we should know better than to expect more of it.”

He chuckled weakly at that.

“That’s not optimistic at all, McKinnon.”

She smirked. “Surely by now you know better than to expect such positive nonsense from me?”

“Yeah,” he muttered, his eyes softening at her. “I do.”

“Well, then. We have to suck it up, Black,” she went on, back to her normal, playful, defiant attitude that not even war had managed to take away from her. “We’ll give Dumbledore another year, if he still denies us our right, we’ll take matters into our own hands… James and Lily chose us for a reason and, let’s be honest, that kid loves us. We’re the fun godparents who spend an unreasonable amount of money on Quidditch equipment that probably won’t even fit him for another two years.”

“That four-eyed squirt does love us, doesn’t he?” Sirius smiled fondly, and rather more animated after her promise.

Marlene laughed. “Yes, even if you refer to him as a four-eyed squirt… I know you don’t think too much of yourself, but you’re fucking great at this.”

He wasn’t going to lie — his heart swelled at her words.

“I wouldn’t be able to do it without you, though,” he admitted with a smile. “Against all odds, you are the voice of reason and authority in this family, McKinnon.”

“That doesn’t mean much when you’re the only other parental figure.” She cocked an eyebrow at him, playfully. “But thanks, Black. I appreciate it.”

They continued walking through the busy streets of muggle London, but no more words were exchanged for a while. With the sun down, the air was chilly, and Sirius noticed Marlene shivering a bit in her sleeveless, summer dress, so he put an arm around her shoulders without even thinking twice about it.

“We do make a great team,” Sirius added, almost thoughtfully. “Did you know people think we’re married? That lady from the shop referred to you as my wife.”

“That doesn’t surprise me,” she replied, nonchalantly. “Harry thinks we are married, too.”

“What?!” he blurted out, his eyes going wild. “Really?”

“Yeah, while you were buying us ice-cream, he asked me why you kept calling me McKinnon, as his aunt Petunia changed her name to match her husband’s.” Marlene smirked at his dumbfounded expression. “He also asked me why we lived in different flats and if we were going to give him a ‘fun cousin’.”

At that, Sirius almost choked. He could handle his best friend’s son, but a baby of his own? The mere idea terrified him… although, with McKinnon…

He shook his head, surprised by his own thoughts.

“That cheeky bastard,” he mumbled. “Does he even know how babies are made?”

“We’ll cross that bridge when we need to,” she replied with an easy smile. “Well, _you’ll_ cross that bridge when he asks. After all, you’re the father figure, and he’s a boy.”

“Don’t be so traditional, Kitten.”

At the nickname, Marlene looked up in a start and even he felt like cringing at the slip out. He hadn’t called her that in a long, long time.

However, she opted to ignore it, even though the air around them had changed. He still had his arm around her, but he suddenly became painfully aware of it — the way the silky, pale and freckled skin of her shoulders felt around his naked arm, how he could feel the warmth radiating off her body, that comforting and alluring freesia scent of her hair…

Sirius was abruptly taken back in time. Hidden passageways between classes, late nights in the Astronomy tower, the bone-chilling coldness of the Black Lake at night, the warmth of the fireplace at the Gryffindor common room, the hard surface of the benches at the Quidditch changing rooms, that small bed he'd called his own for seven years in the boys’ dormitory… All of that, mixed with the memories of her gasps and hot breaths, the way her body felt against his and around him, the softness of her lips and the scratching of her nails on his back, how perfectly well they knew each other…

They hadn’t been together since seventh year, when their short-lived but passionate tryst had taken place. Even then, eight years and dozens of other people later, Sirius still recalled the way it had been with her. He had never had another serious relationship with anyone else, and he was at least ninety-seven percent sure she hadn’t either.

It had been Marlene the one to end it. After Hogwarts, the future had been too uncertain, too terrifying to put a name on what they had, to fight for _yet_ something else. It had been easier to repress it — after all, that was the one thing their background had taught them well. He had gone as far as to start visualizing a future with her, but Sirius had accepted it nonetheless, because he’d understood where she was coming from at the time, it had even made _sense_ to him… Besides, he had been in a dark place and the war was taking its toll on him. It definitely hadn’t been the best time to start a family; the only two people brave _and_ crazy enough to do it had been James and Lily, and look how _that_ had turned out…

Then, when tragedy came, the anger, grief and loss was too deep and heavy; they had to help rebuild a society, to rebuild _themselves_ … and they’d had Harry to think about.

But now, what was their excuse?

“I guess it’s not so far-fetched,” he said softly, his words coming out of him before he even realised he was saying them. “You and me.”

Marlene looked up at him, clearly not having expected him to address the big elephant in the room.

“I guess not,” she replied, cautiously.

“It makes sense,” he insisted, stopping dead on his tracks. He let go of her only to stand face-to-face to her. “At least, it does to me. We make a good team.”

“Sirius…” she began, unsure, biting her lip and hugging herself, almost in protection.

“Are you seeing someone?” he asked, straight to the point. He was pretty sure she wasn’t, as they saw each other three times a week, plus the weekends they spent with Harry, and talked on a daily basis.

“No, but it wouldn’t matter,” Marlene said, sticking out her chin in defiance. Underneath that, he knew she was as frightened as he was. “We aren’t teenagers anymore.”

“So?”

“So, we can’t fool around now,” she answered, frowning a bit, looking at him as if he had suddenly gone mad.

Perhaps he had, although it had been a while since he’d seen things so clearly.

“Who’s said anything about fooling around?” Sirius asked, cocking an eyebrow at her, a small smirk tugging at his lips. “We are pros at fooling other people, McKinnon, but we could never fool each other…” he took a few steps, until he was close enough to her. She was tall, but had never been tall enough to stare at his eyes without craning her neck a bit. Her eyes were like the sea at night; dark blue and tempestuous, and yet, unable to look away from. Her lips were parted and trembling slightly, and he slowly but determinedly put his hands on her waist, making her gasp. “What we had… what we _have_ , Mar, has always been more than that.”

“Sirius,” she whispered in a breath, placing her cold hands on his chest, feeling the erratic beating of his heart. “We—We can’t. We have Harry now.”

“Harry already thinks we are together.”

Marlene looked up, her glossy eyes scanning his whole face, going from his eyes to his lips almost frenetically, not knowing what to do. He rested his forehead on hers and his thumbs started to circle her skin over the thin fabric of her dress; she sighed and closed her eyes, a tear sliding down her cheek.

“He already lost his parents,” she insisted, her voice drowned. “We can’t risk breaking up this family as well.”

“Do you even think it possible?” he asked her, almost amused. He had never been so sure of anything in his life as he was of the bond he had with Marlene McKinnon. “We are beyond everything… us… we’re too good. We’re strong.”

“I can’t—I can’t lose anyone else, Sirius,” she croaked out, bringing her hands up and digging them in the back of his neck, almost to make sure he was there. “Especially not you. I—I’ve loved you for way too long, and way too much.”

“I love you too, Mar,” he whispered, cupping one of her cheeks. “And I promise you, you’re not going to lose me.”

“You know better than to promise something like that by now.”

“No, fuck that. Let’s be positive for once. I think we’ve earned it.”

She let out a teary laugh at that, and opened her eyes to stare up at him. She looked at him often, sometimes when she thought he didn’t notice, but she was always wary, holding herself back… now she was exposing all her feelings to him and Sirius could only hope his expression was showing at least half of the love he had for her, the _faith_ he had in _them_.

“Everything will be okay, and if something comes, then, whatever it is… we’ll face it together, the way we always have done. It’s you and I, McKinnon. No one else.”

She smiled at that; a bright, also teary smile, but gorgeous nonetheless. She stood on her tiptoes and her arms surrounded his neck until she was comfortable enough to press her lips against his.

And they hadn’t done that in what felt like forever, but it was muscle memory, chemistry… it was _them_ , working together perfectly as they had always done; easy as breathing, passionate as sin, right as a symphony. Sirius surrounded her with his arms tightly, bringing her as close as possible, and opening his mouth to take all of her in, meeting her tongue in a rough caress. Marlene let out a content sigh when she felt it, and her hands went to his hair, messing with it, pulling at it…

They lost track of the time they spent kissing, standing in the middle of a poorly lit street, making up for lost time, but also enjoying how _right_ the moment was. Perhaps they had always been meant to be together, but Sirius was sure no other context would have topped this one. It was, after all, a long time coming, and both of them had grown and fought to deserve it.

“You’ll have to stop calling me McKinnon now,” she grinned brightly, her lips red and her eyes sparkling. “Or Harry will never forgive you.”

“Only if I can call you Black, Kitten.”

“Is that a proposal?” she inquired, raising her eyebrows challengingly. “Because I don’t see you on your knee or showing me a ring.”

“Bloody hell, already demanding things. Since when have you become so traditional?”

“Since when have you become so old-fashioned you want me to take your last name?”

“Touché,” he grinned. “But in my defense, this was all Harry’s idea.”

“Don’t you dare blame my baby nephew for your recklessness.”

“ _Our_ baby nephew… So, is that a yes?”

“Yeah, yeah,” she answered, almost impatiently, before letting him kiss her again. “Let’s get hitched, Black.”

  
  
  



End file.
